In the News

COVID led to an increase in student mental health struggles—but this group of students banded together to help their fellow students. In 2020, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing reported that one in six children under the age of 18 experiences a mental health disorder each year. The pandemic has drastically changed the lives of high schoolers as academic institutions shifted to online or hybrid learning, leading to increased feelings of anxiety, depression, and isolation.  (Printable article here.)

When I think about the future of postsecondary education, I am immediately drawn to the experiences of my middle-school boys, who want to know the ‘why’ behind everything they are learning in school. While I thought the repeated barrage of questions was initially no different than me asking my own parents ‘why’ I needed to learn algebra, I have learned that their ‘why’ questions are rooted in wanting to better understand the application of learning to something they are doing right now—not in the future. They want to know how what they are learning can be applied today to address a challenge or question.

Not everyone with an idea gets funding from the wealthy entrepreneurs on the TV show “Shark Tank.” It doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great idea, however.  After all, from those appearances come strong connections...

McHenry High School District 156 leaders will lead tours, explain planning, research that went into new center.  Visitors will be able to get a look at the center’s new biomedical science lab, advanced manufacturing lab, environmental science center with a greenhouse and robotics lab...McHenry High School District 156 leaders will also be available to lead tours and explain the research and planning that went into the new center...features include a broadcast journalism center, a robotics lab, INCubatoredu classroom space, an advanced graphics lab and an advanced engineering center.

Ravon Johnson Taylor was awarded the McKenzie Foundation & Uncharted Learning 2021 GritGrant award. He was chosen as one of four recipients from across the country! He is also the first Rock Island High School Student to win the award...

Kindergarten to 12th-grade programming is one of the pillars at The Mill.

A group of young entrepreneurs from Lake County has teamed up to inspire students through Tavares & Eustis High Schools' new incubator entrepreneurship program, which will begin this semester... 

Six Westlake High School students won a national competition, and with it $10,000 donated by Uncharted Learning, to help them with the launch of their new gift cart app GiftE. The group reached the final competition after being chosen as one of the top five teams in the country. 

As anyone who has ever watched “Shark Tank” on TV knows, the lights shine brightest on those fortunate enough to land a chance to try and strike a deal with any or all of the millionaires/billionaires in the room.

"I didn't feel like a student; I felt like a business owner working with other business people," John Marshall junior Nina Munoz said.